Outline

Overview

This unit provides an introduction to the theory and practice of media production. It combines a holistic investigation of contemporary media practices with an exploratory first-hand account of media production techniques. Students will have the opportunity to create mixed media production using a variety of technologies. They will create a major media piece by the end of the semester and will also reflect critically on their practice.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	MECO1004
Academic unit	Media and Communications
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	None
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Blue Lucine, blue.lucine@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Blue Lucine, blue.lucine@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Christopher Hall, christopher.hall@sydney.edu.au
	Tegan Nicholls, tegan.nicholls@sydney.edu.au
	Joshua Dowton, joshua.dowton@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Weekly discussion reflective journal posts Weekly discussion submissions	10%	Ongoing	500wds
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Design and create personal website Website	0%	Week 03 Due date: 11 Mar 2022 at 18:00 Closing date: 30 Jun 2022	Three-page website
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Audio slideshow One minute audio slideshow	20%	Week 05 Due date: 25 Mar 2022 at 18:00 Closing date: 30 Jun 2022	1 minute
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Online video Mini documentary or feature piece	25%	Week 08 Due date: 24 Apr 2022 at 17:00 Closing date: 30 Jun 2022	2 minute video
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Major media production n/a	45%	Week 12 Due date: 20 May 2022 at 18:00 Closing date: 30 Jun 2022	2500wd equivalent
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment with individually assessed component ?

Assessment summary

Detailed information can be found in Canvas

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	High distinction projects demonstrate outstanding levels of creativity, storytelling, technical competency and publishing ability. These productions have a sophisticated approach towards creativity and storytelling by understanding their audience and drawing on outstanding engagement techniques. The technical capacity demonstrates outstanding skills by correctly recording, capturing, manipulating and exporting the production that adheres to industry standards. The work exceeds the requirements of this assignment and could be commissioned by existing media publications.
Distinction	75 - 84	Distinction projects demonstrate excellent levels of creativity, storytelling, technical competency and publishing ability. These productions have a sophisticated approach towards creativity and storytelling by understanding their audience and drawing on excellent engagement techniques. The technical capacity demonstrates excellent skills by correctly recording, capturing, manipulating and exporting the production that adheres to industry standards. The work exceeds the requirements of this assignment.
Credit	65 - 74	Credit projects demonstrate good levels of creativity, storytelling, technical competency and publishing ability. These productions have a well-rounded approach towards creativity and storytelling by understanding their audience and drawing on satisfactory engagement techniques. The technical capacity demonstrates good skills by correctly recording, capturing, and manipulating the production, which may have a few minor problems. The work demonstrates the requirements of this assignment.
Pass	50 - 64	Projects that pass demonstrate minimal levels of creativity, storytelling, technical competency and publishing ability. These productions have some understanding of creativity and storytelling but have been masked by errors and problems in comprehensive produciton. The technical capacity demonstrates some skills by correctly recording, capturing and manipulating the media, but also demonstrates some technical problems and errors. The work minimally meets the requirements of this assignment.
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	The medium is the message – contemporary media practice and industries	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 02	The decisive moment – introduction to the still image	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 02	Online portfolio (website & social media) and photography basics	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 03	Sound - audio production & design	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 03	Zoom H recorders, microphones, & an introduction to Adobe Audition	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 04	“Always make the audience suffer as much as possible” – introduction to storytelling and editing	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 04	Introduction to Adobe Photoshop	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 05	Audio, meet image – duo media texts	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 05	Create audio slideshow	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 06	Introduction to video principles	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 06	Video principles	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 07	Documentary/feature production principles and audiences	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 07	Adobe Premier Pro - Video Editing	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 08	If it doesn’t spread, it’s dead - online publication	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 08	Creating media for online	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 09	Lighting and audio techniques	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 09	Microphone techniques, lighting design, Adobe Photoshop	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 10	Media logic and algorithmic media	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 10	Coding and Analytics	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 11	Video Editing- The flow of an edit	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 11	Adobe Premier Pro & Audition	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 12	Ethical and regulatory frameworks	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 12	Social media platforms	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 13	Preparing for podcasting	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 13	In-class presentations	Seminar (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: students are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board which will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

All readings for this unit can be accessed on the Library eReserve link available on Canvas.

Textbook: Costello, V. (2017). Multimedia Foundations. New York: Routledge

Week One The Medium is the Massage – Contemporary media practice and industries

Readings:

McLuhan, M. (2003). The Medium is the Message. In W. Terrence (Ed.), Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (pp. 18-35): Routledge.

Costello, V. (2017). Understanding Multimedia, Multimedia Foundations (pp. 3-38). New York: Routledge.

Week Two The Decisive Moment – Introduction to the still image

Readings:

Croteau, D., Hoynes, W., & Milan, S. (2012). Media and the Social World. In D. Croteau, W. Hoynes, & S. Milan (Eds.), Media/Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.

Costello, V. (2017). Photography, Multimedia Foundations (pp. 293-328). New York: Routledge.

Week Three Sound – Audio Production & Design

Readings:

Bradshaw, Paul, and Liisa Rohumaa. The Online Journalism Handbook : Skills to Survive and Thrive in the Digital Age, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.

Costello, V. (2017). Chapter 11 Audio Production, Multimedia Foundations (pp. 329-365). New York: Routledge.

Week Four “Always Make the Audience Suffer as much as Possible” – Introduction to storytelling and editing

Readings:

Burton, G. (2010). Audiences and Effects Media and Society: Critical Perspectives (pp. 82-107). New York: Open University Press.

Costello, V. (2017). Project Planning and Evaluation, Multimedia Foundations (pp. 77-106). New York: Routledge.

Week Five Audio, Meet Image – Duo media text

Readings:

McCombs, M., & Valenzuela, S. (2007). The Agenda Setting Theory - La teoría Agenda Setting. Cuadernos de Información, 20, 44-50.

Costello, V. (2017). Recording Formats and Device Settings, Multimedia Foundations (pp. 331-370). New York: Routledge.

Week Six Media Users and an Introduction to Video Principles

Readings:

Dijck, J. v. (2009). Users Like You? Theorizing agency in user-generated content. Media, Culture & Society, 31(1), 41-58.

Costello, V. (2017). Video Production, Multimedia Foundations (pp. 403-440). New York: Routledge.

Week Seven. Documentary/Feature Production Principles and Audiences

Readings:

Long, P., & Wall, T. (2009). Investigating audiences: What do people do with media? In P. Long, T. Wall, V. Bakir, & A. McStay (Eds.), Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context (pp. 240-272). Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited.

Week Eight If it Doesn’t Spread, It’s Dead - Online Publication

Readings:

Wiggins, B. E., & Bowers, G. B. (2015). Memes as Genre: A structural analysis of the memescape. New Media & Society, 17(11), 1886-1906.

Youngblood, S. A., & Youngblood, N. E. (2017). Web Design. In V. Costello (Ed.), Multimedia Foundations (pp. 201-232). New York: Routledge.

Week Nine Advanced Audio and Photography Production

Readings:

Jackman, John. Lighting for Digital Video and Television. Fourth edition. New York, NY: Routledge, 2020. Chapter 6 Basic Lighting Techniques.

Week Ten Media Logics and Algorithmic Media

Readings:

Dijck, J. v., & Poell, T. (2013). Understanding Social Media Logic. Media and Communication, 1(1), 2-14.

Hallinan, B., & Striphas, T. (2014). Recommended for you: The Netflix Prize and the production of algorithmic culture. New Media & Society, Online First, 1-21.

Week Eleven Editing Beyond Basics

Readings

Costello, V. (2017). Time-Based Editing, Multimedia Foundations. (pp. 441-475). New York: Routledge.

Mascelli, J. C. (1963). Cutting The Five C's of Cinematography (pp. 146-171). Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.

Tu, D. L. (2015). Post Production Feature and Narrative Storytelling for Multimedia Journalists (pp. 167-194). London: Focal Press.

Week Twelve Ethical and Regulatory Frameworks

Readings

Dwyer, T. (2012). Introduction Legal and Ethical Issues in the Media (pp. 1-21). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Phillips, A., Couldry, N., & Freedman, D. (2010). An Ethical Deficit? Accountability, Norms, and the Material Conditions of Contemporary Journalism New Media, Old Media: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age. New York: SAGE.

Week Thirteen Preparing for Podcasting

No Readings this week

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. demonstrate proficiency in theories of communication, media production, audience and connectivity
LO2. identify the foundational principles of media design and participation
LO3. demonstrate basic skills in conceptual media production (audio, video, design, writing, social media and publishing) across multiple platforms
LO4. demonstrate the basic skills for social media production
LO5. demonstrate the capacity to identify and apply ethical standards in producing media texts, forms and environments.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

We have slightly changed the assessment based on student feedback and have made the final assessment a group project.

Additional information

This unit involves a weekly 1 hour lecture, a 2 hour tutorial, reading and online activities on our Canvas e-learning site and blogs.

Lectures are compulsory, but will be in part run like discussion/demonstration sessions. You are required to do the readings and look at the suggested websites BEFORE the lecture and will be called on to discuss your analysis of the readings in the lecture.

There will be occasional guest lecturers — people with extensive academic or industry background in media production. As these people may be your future employers (and we often refer students to job opportunities on the basis of their participation in class) it’s worth turning up to these events and asking questions.

Tutorial workshops will be a combination of online tutorials alongside in-person workshops – we will need to align with COVID-19 restrictions to ensure the health and safety of all is upheld. Due to equipment and resources there is an absolute cap of 20 placed on the number of students in each workshop. To gain entry to the lab outside class times you must use your student swipe access card. If you haven’t already done so, please apply for and activate your swipe card at the Security building G12, Darlington Campus. To use lab computers outside class times you need to book them through the booking system. This is very important after week 5 as many groups are sharing the same production resources.

All your e-learning activities will take place on Canvas or your personal online portfolio space blog.

All your class handouts and other support materials will be posted on Canvas. If you have any difficulties logging in or using the system, visit the Student Help area of the Sydney eLearning site http://sydney.edu.au/elearning/student/

Your software demonstrator will be available in class and for one hour of other consultation on your feature project. Please be polite to, and patient with them, especially if you want help to realise your creative vision.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

MECO1004: Introduction to Media Production

Semester 1, 2022 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect